Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I finished the last of the edits for Garrett's story. I'm going to take this week and give it one last read through so I can fix anything I might find. I'll then format it and get it ready to send to my beta readers over the weekend.

Motivational Quote:  "I'm inspired by a person's work ethic. Hard work motivates me to keep pushing through even when I am exhausted or overwhelmed or going through things." ~ Rita Ora, (Kosovan and British singer-songwriter)  

What I'm Reading:  I started Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry yesterday afternoon.  I've had this book on my TBR list for a while and was finally able to borrow a copy from the library.

Random Things:  Now that we're slowly moving into warmer weather, I've been doing a lot of baking on the cooler days. I rarely bake in the summer but still want homemade bread, muffins, and cookies so I've been making batches of different kinds of cookies and muffins and bread and freezing them so when it's 90 degrees with high humidity and I want a muffin or a cookie, I can just pull a few out of the freezer in the morning and have them with lunch later in the day. 

Random Photo:

I made Hermit cookie bars for the first time. I found the recipe in one of my mom's old cookbooks (copyright date was 1975). They turned out pretty good but seemed more like a gingerbread brownie than a cookie. I would make them again though. 
 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I've received feedback on Coming Home from my editor and all of my beta readers. Thankfully, they all liked the book. There are a few minor tweaks I'll need to make and/or fix but overall, there won't be a lot of rewriting or editing to be done before the book is released in early January 2025.

 Motivational Quote: "To fulfill a dream...to be given the chance to create, is the meat and potatoes of life." ~ Bette Davis

What I'm Reading:  I'll be starting Beach Read by Emily Henry tonight when I go to bed. I've heard good things about it so I'm looking forward to reading it.

Random Thoughts:  Cookie baking will commence today and continue throughout the week. We make 12 different kinds of cookies and about 10 dozen of each type every year. We pack them in containers and give them out to friends and family. Every year I say we're not going to cut back and not make so many different kinds, but we always end up with 12 anyway. Some recipes are tried and true that have been made for years (since I was a child) and some are newish having been made at least 3 years and some are new, new being made for the first time. It's a lot of work, but I look forward to it every year.

Random Photo: 

The frosted sugar cookies we make every year and have been making since I was a child.
 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related: Writing was pretty much a bust last week. I had so many things crop up that ate up my writing time that it's a wonder I managed to get any words written at all. 

Motivational Quote: "To anyone who has a dream, I say follow that dream. You're never too old. It is never too late." ~ Susan Boyle

What I'm Reading: I've just started reading Book Lovers by Emily Henry. I don't feel that it's a romance novel in the traditional sense. Right now, I'm not sure how I feel about the book. I'm going to continue reading it for the time being. I'm still in the first quarter of the book so my opinion may change the further into the book I get.

Random Things:  I learned last week that there are promotional companies who don't provide materials when they say they will and when contacted about it, instead of apologizing, take offense and become insulting. I understand things happen and would have accepted a viable reason why things weren't emailed in time for the promotional slot, too bad the owner went the unprofessional route instead of owning up to the error. I'm not naming the company, but I won't be doing business with them in the future and if someone asks me my thoughts about them, I will be honest about my experience.

Random Photo:

             Given the week I had, I feel like only talking to my cat for the next week.